A Cup Half Empty
by EeveeGen9988
Summary: [One-Shot] Back in the remains of his cafe, Sanae interrogates Joshua about the events following Shibuya's sparing. For [Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit] [Poetic Justice]


**A Cup Half Empty:**

 **I do not own The World Ends With You, Square Enix does!**

 **Written for Twelve Shots of Summer - Week 5…**

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"Never thought you'd take a cup of Joe…" Sanae chuckled as he put down the mug, trying to meet Joshua's gaze, however his scraggly hair was in the way. "Seriously, Josh…"

Without replying, Joshua slowly picked up the mug and drank.

Sanae brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his head, grimacing at what he was seeing. He wasn't used to receiving the silent treatment from the Composer, who was unusually cold to him ever since they got back from the Realm of Angels. Well, Sanae could hardly be surprised by that, seeing that he had to basically drag him there for his trial… But as much as Sanae would rather not be present at a trial, he was needed for producing evidence for the wrongdoing the Composer had dealt to Shibuya… However, he never expected that the Master would strip the Composer of his celestial form… Normally a harsher penalty would be thrown onto the defendant, such as erasure or removal from position (which would cause the subject to experience erasure or their being would combine with stray Imagination and become something that would cause them pain and misery). Either way, the outcome of a trial by the Angels would certainly deal out the punishment respectfully as it should be received… so Sanae was glad Joshua received this punishment seeing that he was still in existence...

"Not in the mood for chatting, eh?" Sanae sighed as he sat down at the table across from Joshua. "It's not like you… but considering what happened today… I get it…"

Joshua continued to drink the cup of coffee, clenching the handle of the mug harder. As much as that indicated how he didn't want to talk, Sanae knew sooner or later they would have to have this discussion… And right now was the prim time, Sanae had to get answers.

"You know… was trying to erase Shibuya the best thing you could do?" Sanae lowered his sunglasses, narrowing his eyes as Joshua put the empty mug down. "I didn't see a problem with it in the first place, Josh…"

"Then you're blind as they've always been."

Sanae grimaced; he wasn't expecting to have Joshua speak to him so soon after this long. When he studied the Composer, he noticed how the Composer's lavender gaze was sharp and irate as they watched him. "And here I thought Angels such as _yourself_ knew every speck on Shibuya's dirty streets…"

"I thought you wanted to give the city another chance…" mused Sanae, frowning as he watched the Composer give a smirk.

"Another chance? Did you really think I meant what I said?" sneered Joshua as he laughed bitterly. "Haven't you known about my ploys? I don't see how Shibuya has changed… it's just as disgusting as it's always been…"

"Of course it's changed," replied Sanae sternly, finding that 'disgusting' really didn't suit the nature of Shibuya at all. "The citizens haven't been attacked by Negative Noise ever since Phones has helped them…"

"The surplus statistics are not what I'm looking for, Sanae…" Joshua's smirk twitched, but then it stabilized. "I know it may have seemed like I had shown… compassion… but it really was a miscalculation on my part…"

"Then why did you ask me to stop Phones' eradication process…? You never create 'miscalculations' nowadays, well, from what I seen, but that's besides the point…" Sanae clasped his hands together and stared straight into Joshua's eyes. "You had Shibuya in the palm of your hand, it was in your mercy… yet you threw it all away… I know something stopped you…"

"Really, Sanae?" Joshua threw up his hands in a shrug. "Where's your ambiguous logic?"

"I can be serious when I want to, especially when you're dodging my questions," replied Sanae curtly as he frowned deeply, leaning forward as he sighed. "I understand why you tried to erase Shibuya in the first place, I know Phones inspired you to abort your plans… but something else was behind your actions as well… I know it's something, yet you try so hard to deny it…"

"There's nothing but what you've seen already…" Joshua turned his head away, tapping his mug. "If you have nothing better to do, I want a refill."

"It's going to cost you then." Sanae got up, taking the mug then giving Joshua a pointed look. "I don't give everything away for free… even for you…"

"Hmph…" Joshua refused to return a glance, somehow finding the damaged wall that Sho created was more interesting than hearing Sanae out.

The mohawk haired barista briskly returned to the counter, heading towards the coffeepot and filled the mug up with the hot ebony beverage. He gave a quick glance back to Joshua, who was now tapping at his orange cellphone's buttons.

Sanae could tell that he was merely brushing the surface of the discussion, unfavorable than what Sanae really needed to hear from the Composer. He didn't think it would take more effort to break the shield the Composer created around himself, but he guessed what had been easily accessible almost 3 years ago had been an opportunity that he had passed up too neglectfully. If he had been by the Composer's side during the first few months Joshua had taken up his role in directing the Reaper's Game, then maybe something could have been done.

If only he realized that sooner...

He put down the coffeepot and walked back to the table, putting down the mug and putting out his hand. "That will be about 680 Yen..."

The Composer merely put the Yen down on the table and brought his mug over to drink.

After Sanae collected and checked to make sure the amount was correct, he settled down in the seat he had been. He noticed how the Composer began to swirl the liquid in his mug after a while, idly watching it with his uninterested gaze. It wasn't until Sanae cleared his throat and gave Joshua a pointed look that the scraggly blond regarded him slightly.

"What you almost did to Shibuya…" said Sanae steadily. "Makes me wonder what happened to you…"

"Nothing happened…" Joshua narrowed his eyes and focused on the mug at once. "I can see how the city was collapsing from within… yet you should have known the state it was in… But I guess you don't, do you?"

Sanae merely stared at him for a while, soon noting how the Composer's expression, which usually was milder, was hardened. It was as though something was harming his facade, he was trying to regain the composure he normally held... yet he didn't want Sanae to see this... This wasn't how the Composer was before he took his role, not at all... Either way, Sanae couldn't read what Joshua truly had on his mind. Usually Sanae had some idea on the train of thought that ran through his mind, but now...

"...I can hardly recognize you anymore, Josh…" The black haired barista was having a hard time suppressing his emotions from coming into his tone, but he could tell being aloof to the situation would achieve nothing, unlike Joshua had been. "You had so much planned for the Underground… Before I left… before you died and ascended… I saw a future for Shibuya… one that could be achieved by your guidance, your love, your hopes and dreams… But then again… now that I've come back… I could tell you created a situation that you haven't given time to regard or clean up after leaving it to fester for so long…"

"So, you think the poison running through Shibuya is because of me?" Joshua gave a short, bitter laugh. "Not a chance… I feel it everyday… it festers not by my hand, but by the citizens of this city…"

"It's not the citizens… you need take up your responsibilities as the Composer for once…" Sanae narrowed his eyes, standing up when Joshua got out of his chair. "What have you done to say that there's nothing that could be done? All've you done is let your morals die over these past few years… You were willing to let the city you once loved be erased-"

"What is there to love?" asked Joshua frostily as he started to walk away. "Humanity doesn't deserve mine…"

At once Sanae barred his path, standing stiffly as Joshua merely gazed past boredly. "You need to understand there's more at stake than you think…"

"Oh _really_? Did the Angels send you that message so you can deliver it to me? That's pathetic if you ask me…"

"It's my own message, Josh…" replied Sanae sternly as he refused to move out of the way, even when Joshua didn't seem to have heard him. "I did what I had to in order to do what's best-"

"So you sided with the Angels… My, you know how anti-climatic this is?"

"I never sided with the Angels at all last month, I followed my conscience…" Slowly Sanae drew his hardened gaze into Joshua's weary eyes. "Everything I did… teaching Sho how to use Taboo, helping Phones out, upgrading your phone when you requested the services for your goals… it was for you. Even if you don't see it yourself, it was in your best interest for me to intervene when I had to-"

"So, it involved trying to dethrone me?" Joshua's eyes narrowed as he scoffed. "You betrayed me… No matter what you've said so far, you're lying through your teeth… It's no wonder you're a Fallen Angel… you have no loyalty to anyo-"

"But that makes it easier, doesn't it?" Sanae asked as he sighed, taking a step towards Joshua when he continued sadly, "To act without the restraint of commitment, allows for freedom… However, one is unable to sustain themselves by themselves… I love this city more than you once did… I wanted to enrich their lives instead of trying to restrain their capabilities… However, seeing that you tried to destroy every part of what has come to become my home… I saw no other option… Even if I had to feign in a way that shed no light to those I talked to throughout the last month… I still tried to protect what was dear to me… even if it pained me to harm you… I'm still looking out for you, y'know? I'm still your guardian..."

Joshua was silent, giving no opportunity for Sanae to come up with an argument as to how to deal with Joshua's remoteness for the events that occurred. Even when he stood in his cafe, which was damaged by Sho and clearly needed repair, Sanae knew no other way for getting through to the Composer…

A chuckle filled the air. "What's the use of that? You're stretching your hand farther than you can reach…"

When Sanae opened his mouth to respond, Joshua raised his hand up. "Is that all you can do to explain yourself…? My, my… I thought you could do better than that."

With that, Joshua walked around Sanae, heading towards the door. "But… I guess I put too much trust in you, considering how naïve I was when we first met… I thought I found someone who finally understood my world… but I guess I was too young at the time to realize what you truly were…"

"Joshua-" Sanae started to follow after Joshua, only to crash into a barrier that appeared in front of him without warning. He fell down slightly, then got up to prepare to break through.

"I have nothing to say to you, so don't even think about calling me." Joshua turned just before he frowned. "If you're not going to follow me, so be it. I don't see the sense for us to continue as we've had been... it's for the best we may never speak to each other again…"

As soon as Sanae broke the barrier, he saw Joshua raise his hand up in a wave gesture before he disappeared. All Sanae could do was blink, halting in front of the doorway as he tried to search for any signs of the Composer, but found nothing. It took a while to realize that Joshua wouldn't come back, Hinata's son no longer wanted to see him. So he sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he turned back to clean up the table.

By the time he was pouring out the remaining coffee from the mug, he shook his head as the ebony liquid left a stain where it landed in the sink. **'You couldn't finish what you started… so why am I here to clean up the mess you've left behind?'**

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 **\- End -**

 **Hope you enjoyed the story! =3**

 **…**

 **EeveeGen9988: It took a while to figure out an idea... but I finally did! *flops over* Phew... it was hard to portray this time's prompt... Yeah... But I managed to make the deadline! Even when I was away for the anime convention I went to, I did it! =3**

 **So I took [Love of Humanity] this time... it was mostly about how Sanae questioned Joshua about where his love for Shibuya had gone, which included the inhabitants of the city. It also was about how Sanae was trying to defend the city he grew to love. I'm also taking the classic [Poetic Justice] mainly because of the fact that Sanae explained how Joshua lost his form because of what happened with trying to erase Shibuya and that what Sanae did to Joshua did make Joshua lose trust in Sanae, which makes sense because why wouldn't you distrust someone if you found out they were trying to erase (or in our case kill) you? So it's more of consequences Sanae and Joshua receives from their actions during TWEWY.**


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